California revokes 17,000 immigrant driver's licenses

2025-11-14 19:32:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

California plans to revoke 17,000 commercial driver's licenses issued to immigrants after discovering that the expiration dates had passed when the drivers were legally allowed to stay in the U.S., state officials said Wednesday.

The announcement comes after the Trump administration has been sharply critical of California and other states that allow people in the country illegally to drive. The issue became public knowledge in August when a tractor-trailer driver who was not authorized to be in the U.S. caused a crash in Florida that killed three people.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday that California's decision to revoke these licenses is an admission that the state acted inappropriately even though it previously upheld its licensing standards. California launched a review of the commercial driver's licenses it issued after Duffy raised concerns.

"After weeks of claiming they did nothing wrong, Gavin Newsom and California have been caught red-handed. Now that we have exposed their lies, 17,000 illegally issued truck licenses are being revoked. This is just the tip of the iceberg. My team will continue to force California to prove that it has removed every illegal immigrant from behind the wheel of trucks and school buses," Duffy declared.

Newsom's office said each driver whose license was being revoked had valid federal work authorizations. At first, his office declined to disclose the exact reason for revoking the licenses, saying only that they violated state law. Later, his office revealed that the state law it was referring to was one that requires licenses to expire on or before a person's legal status in the United States ends, as reported to the DMV.

However, Newsom spokesman Brandon Richards hit back at Duffy in a statement.

“Once again, Sean 'Road Rules' Duffy fails to share the truth by spreading easily debunked lies in a sad and desperate attempt to please his beloved leader,” Richards said.

Fatal truck accidents in Texas and Alabama earlier this year also raise questions about these permits.

Duffy had previously imposed new restrictions on immigrants who could qualify for commercial driver's licenses. He said earlier this fall that California and five other states had improperly issued commercial driver's licenses to noncitizens, but California is the only state Duffy has taken action against because it was the first to conduct an audit.

Reviews in other states have been delayed due to the government shutdown, but the Department of Transportation is urging all states to tighten their standards.

Duffy revoked $40 million in federal funding because he said California is not enforcing English language requirements for truck drivers, and reiterated Wednesday that he will take another $160 million from the state for these improperly issued licenses if they do not declare every illegal license invalid and address all concerns. But revoking these licenses is part of the state's efforts to comply.

The new rules for business licenses that Duffy announced in September make it extremely difficult for immigrants to obtain them, because only three specific classes of visa holders will be eligible. States will also have to verify an applicant's immigration status against a federal database. The licenses will be valid for up to one year, unless the applicant's visa expires earlier./CNA, translated by CNN